2025/10/03 by B Maes, Stefaan Walgrave, Emmi Verleyen +3 · 2 voices
Social Sciences · #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Social Media and Politics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/01402382.2025.2563983
Research has found evidence of policy responsiveness to public opinion, but also that responsiveness is highly variable. This selectivity is, however, only partially understood. This study explores which public opinion signals politicians deem worthy of their attention and consideration when deciding how (not) to act. Therefore, it assesses the relative importance of four criteria politicians may use when evaluating such signals, indicating either opinion quantity (i.e. whether the opinion is widely supported or deeply cared about) or quality (i.e. whether the opinion is well-informed or well-argued). Survey data from over 900 elected politicians across 11 countries reveal that politicians believe opinion quality should be prioritised above opinion quantity. This pattern, moreover, varies on several individual and party-level characteristics. As such, the results suggest that selective responsiveness observed in extant studies may stem from a mismatch in how responsiveness is typically measured (quantitatively) and how politicians think about it (qualitatively).